Ordo Tredecim
by lightofeilia
Summary: It was just a trip to the museum. For the crappy history paper he had to write and do research about. Roxas certainly wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen to himself...
1. Chapter 1

This plotbunny won't leave me alone!! I should finish my other stories but no...

Short one, I know. It's just the prologue. Chapters will be longer.

**Disclaimer : I do not own Kingdom Hearts nor any of its characters. **

Ordo Tredecim: Prologue

"– Alright then, that's it for today's homework. Now, I'm going to give you guys a research project to do, and it counts for twenty percent of your grade, so don't slack off now."

There were a few coarse murmurs and some incomprehensible groans, but not one of them showed much enthusiasm about said research project. History was a boring class, a boring subject, with boring things to read and memorize and boring stuff to write about; at least that's the statement you'd receive from most high school students.

Sighing, Ms. Tifa Lockhart, World History teacher, straightened her skirt and rapped the board sharply with her knuckles. Her twelve students looked on pleadingly.

"Since this class is kind of small, I'll give you guys seven topics to choose from. There should be plenty of information to write on, but I don't want some poorly-written essay with information directly from your textbooks," she began, thrusting a bunch of papers to the nearest student; a silver-haired student named Riku, and motioned for him to start handing them out. "You will have to find information from other than your textbooks. Info from the internet is acceptable as long as it is cited properly, but you must have at least two book sources."

Louder groans. Her smile grew wider.

"Yes, that means researching in the _library_," said Tifa triumphantly, smiling evilly at her students.

"Now, the topics... as usual, first-come-first-serve basis. The handouts I've given you has seven topics to choose from, so take your pick and tell me when you've chosen, and I'll help you go deeper into your topic if it's too broad. This is a group project, so group up, alright?"

"Yes, Ms. Lockhart," they replied dully.

Roxas scanned through the list, frowning. A research paper wasn't so bad; he just had to pick the right topic. Running a hair through his blond spikes, he tried to tune out the rest of the class while making his choice.

"I call Olympus Coliseum, Ancient Greece! With Riku!"

Roxas looked up at the loud proclamation. Sora, his twin brother, was the one who had shouted. Sora was always fascinated with Greek mythology, so it figured he would have been the one to choose that. The only problem with that topic was that it was a very broad one, with loads of additional information that would take days and weeks to sift through. There was no doubt he'd be pairing with Riku, though...

"Ancient China, Land of Dragons, Miss, with Hayner," said Pence, one of Roxas's best friends, putting his hand in the air. Hayner, Roxas's other best friend, gave a loud yawn from beside him on his left. Tifa nodded and wrote the respective names on her own list.

Roxas was finding it harder and harder to concentrate with so many people taking only one look at the list and yelling out what they wanted. At this rate he'd be left with the last topic that nobody would want.

"I'll take Ancient Arabia, Miss!" Roxas grabbed a pencil and quickly crossed out the topics that had been taken. Now, let's see, that left...

"Tribal Africa," someone yelled out, and the pencil made its mark again.

"Atlantis, the Lost City! Olette and I!" called Kairi, a redhead girl, best friends with Sora and Riku. Olette, another one of Roxas's close friends was hovering somewhere near her table, chatting excitedly about their topic.

"That's kind of a hard topic, isn't it, Riku?" Roxas heard Sora ask. "It's not even considered history if you ask me. No facts to prove it."

Roxas tried very hard to tune out the ensuing bickering.

"Pirates, Miss Lockhart," called Seifer, a tall, blond bully in his class. Roxas didn't need to look up to know that he had his trademark smirk on his face.

"Who's in your group, Seifer?"

"Rai and Fuu, of course."

Frowning, Tifa looked down at the list.

"It'll be better to pair off, Seifer. Roxas isn't going to have a partner –"

"It's not my fault he doesn't have friends," said Seifer loudly, leaning back on his chair. Predictably, Sora shot up from his seat to defend his honour.

"Shut up, Seifer! Miss, if Seifer's group can have three people, then Roxas can partner with me!"

"Or me and Pence," added Hayner, shooting Seifer a death glare.

"I can do it on my own, Miss," said Roxas quietly. He wouldn't pair up with Seifer. Never. Not even if you paid him to.

"Are you sure?" asked Tifa uncertainly. Insisting on breaking the trio up would only cause trouble, and even though Roxas could hold his own, asking him to pair up with Seifer was just begging for a national disaster.

"Yes."

"Alright, then, I suppose. Seifer's group will have more sub-topics to write about, then, as there are three of them. So, that just leaves this last topic –"

Roxas glanced down at the list. Marking out the pirates topic which Seifer and his posse chose, he was left with...

"– History of Ordo Tredecim, Organization XIII."

Roxas groaned, letting his head fall onto his desk.

"Cheer up, Rox," said Sora, patting his lump of blond spikes. "The Organization should be easy material. We grew up hearing war stories about it; it's so recent compared to all this ancient stuff."

"Which would make it difficult to research on! Most of it is speculation anyway!" said Roxas indignantly.

"Well, at least you didn't pick Atlantis," said Sora, snickering at Kairi's petulant glare.

"You're not helping, Sora," mumbled Roxas, batting the offending hand away.

"Class! Come on, settle down. There's still a lot more to discuss. Sora, Riku, come up here."

Roxas let his head fall back onto the desk again, blowing his hair out of his eyes irritably. The topic wasn't too difficult, in all honesty, but most of it was speculation. Roxas didn't like speculation. He liked pure, hard, stone-cold facts.

Sure, there was a war. That much was known. That was like, a mere hundred years ago.

What were they fighting for? Uncertain.

Who was involved? The Organization. And an unnamed party.

What happened in the end?

Unknown.

Roxas sighed, already starting to map out his plans for the research.

TBC

* * *

Please review! Suggestions are welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

NO reviews at allll?? -faints-

**Disclaimer : I do not own Kingdom Hearts nor any of its characters. **

**Ordo Tredecim: Chapter 1**

Roxas ended up in the library after school, reviewing the notes Tifa had given him. He doubted the school library had any books that had information. He decided he would have to go to the public library, or maybe dig through the National Archive or something. Still, it couldn't hurt to try his luck in the school library...

Dumping his bag on one of the tables, he made sure his phone was turned to silent mode before leaving to find a book that may aid him, hopefully. The first person to ask would be the librarian...

"Excuse me?"

"Yes?" said the librarian, frowning down at him.

"Do you have any books regarding the Organization XIII?"

"Hold on, let me check the database."

Roxas tapped his foot impatiently, silently wondering why he was alone on this nice day, possibly the first person to start research on the History paper. Sora and Riku had grabbed the rest for a game of blitzball - which he'd politely declined.

Sometimes, Roxas just felt like being alone.

It wasn't something Sora could understand, despite being twins.

"Well, we only have one book so far... here. Section J-12, the name of the book is _A Study of the Organization_..."

"Thanks," said Roxas, and trudged off in search of the book.

The book, it turned out, was old and not very thick. Its pages were yellowing and Roxas wondered vaguely if the librarian knew this. Mentally measuring the thickness of the book, Roxas sighed. Maybe he'd have to search through the National Archive after all. Flipping the pages randomly, he paused at the middle of the book, where a large photograph was stretched out on the two pages.

_Statues of the Organization – _

Roxas blinked. They actually had statues of them made?

Deciding that any information would be better than nothing, he took out his library card. The next thing to do was to find out if the National Museum had any records on this...

* * *

"Mmmmmmmm," breathed Sora, inhaling deeply. He began to gravitate from the couch towards the kitchen in a drunken manner, passing by Roxas who had just finished showering and was holding a book in his hands.

"Sora! Don't touch that!"

A yelp was heard. Roxas smirked and settled himself comfortably on the couch.

"I'm hungry, mom!"

"Can't you just _wait_? I'm not done cooking yet!"

Sora was then unceremoniously booted from the kitchen, rubbing his aching head. He gravitated back towards the living room, seeking comfort from his brother.

"Mom doesn't love me, Roxas."

"Sure she does."

"No, she doesn't!"

"Sora. Shut up. Mom loves you."

"She doesn't!" wailed Sora pitifully, jumping onto his twin in anguish. Roxas growled and tried to push him off.

"Get off me!"

"NEVAAA!"

"Boys," said their father, looking up from his newspaper. "Keep it down."

"Dad, tell Sora that mom loves him," said Roxas, stuffing his hand into Sora's face, effectively stopping the younger boy from getting anywhere further into his personal space. "Or at least tell him to shut up and let me get on with reading my book."

"Sora. What he said," said their father boredly, flipping through the newspaper idly.

"Dad, you're so mean... and Roxas, you're such a nerd... you've already started researching? Pshh," said Sora, poking the library book in Roxas's hands.

"Research?"

"Yeah. We just got this project today, on History. I'm doing the Olympus Coliseum with Riku!"

"I see. What about you, Roxas?"

Roxas held up the book for his father to see.

"Ah, the Organization, eh? Interesting topic."

"Really? But I think it's difficult. There's so little stuff written about them," said Roxas, frowning. "I went to the library today and all they have is this book."

"You should've picked a topic faster than the rest of us, then," said Sora, smirking.

"Says the brother who teamed up with his best friend without even thinking of his own _twin_," Roxas shot back, annoyed.

"Sorry," said Sora, cringing. He still felt guilty about it, because it was true. Both of them, though twins, were different in personality and interests. Roxas wasn't really angry with him; given the choice, he would rather partner with Hayner or Pence than with his own brother.

For one thing, Sora was one very lazy human and only Riku and Kairi could put up with him.

"Dinner, boys!"

"Coming!"

"Mom, did I ever tell you that I love you?"

"Oh, shush. You only love me because I cook dinner, what an ungrateful son – "

They continued bickering all through out dinner, and Roxas only got them to shut up when he brought up the topic of the Organization again.

"So, Dad, why don't you tell me what you know about the Organization?"

"Hmm, well... I know that despite it being called Organization _Thirteen_," said his father, chewing his food thoughtfully, "there are only twelve known members."

"Really? They even have names?"

"No, not names. Actually, they're numbered."

"Numbered?" echoed Sora.

"Yeah. Number 1, Number 2, and all that. They probably do have names, but we don't know that."

"So, they're missing a member?"

"Yeah, the thirteenth one. Unlucky number, isn't it?"

"I see," said Roxas, filing away this information in his head. It was a start. Hopefully he'll get far with the book tonight if Sora didn't disturb him too much.

"Thanks for dinner, mom," said Sora, sighing contentedly.

"Well, since you love me so much, Sora, you should go do the dishes. Go on, now!"

Roxas quickly retreated to his room.

* * *

After settling down on his bed, snuggled comfortably under the covers, Roxas opened the book, flipped past the Introduction and started reading.

_Named after its thirteen members, the true purpose of the _Organization_ was never known. There are many theories as to why; each more ludicrous than the rest. Disregarding all talks of magic, however, the Organization was definitely part of a war that ended five hundred years ago. There are always two sides to a war, yet in this war, the _Organization _seemed to be the third party. With the thirteen members as useful agents and spies; they were thought to have infiltrated the base of the remaining two parties, _Maleficent _and the _Regnum Vesica.

_It is said that during this time of war (approx. 1503 - 1507), Maleficent, who grew more absorbed in power, wished to gain control of the lands of the world. A faction of people from all over united together to stop her, naming themselves _Regnum Vesica. _No leader was named, and there have been no records of one either. The _Organization,_ in secrecy, did not make themselves known to the war until 1506, a year before the war ended, where one of them betrayed their existence to the public. _

_This, ultimately, was what ensured their downfall, despite nearly winning the war. The events preceding the end of the war are very much unknown; there have been no written records of it. _

_  
What makes the Organization so crucial to the war is that despite trying their hardest to achieve their purpose, had they not been betrayed by their own member, they would have succeeded in their plan. _

_The mystery surrounding them is this: who are these people? And why is it that despite extensive research and exploration; not even one event of the war can be recounted? The Organization must be behind this secrecy, this worldwide agreement to forever keep the events of the war unknown. _

_This is boring_, Roxas decided, turning the pages. Maybe the magic one would be much more fun. Too bad the author didn't believe those theories. Also, the author didn't seem like he knew much at all. And he'd manage to get this published?

Pursing his lips, Roxas flipped to the full out photograph that had caught his eye earlier on that day.

_Statues of the Organization: (clockwise) Number XI, Number IX, Number VII, Number V, Number III, Number I, (believed to be the leader), Number II, Number IV, Number VI ... _

_As a covert organization, these members no doubt had names of their own, yet they are not known. There is definite proof, however, that they were numbered and were referred to by their numbers. This is shown by the tattoos on each member's body, and that is how they are able to be identified by their number to this day. _

Roxas peered closer at the photograph. The stone statues didn't show much; but that was probably because it was too small to look for any tattoos.

_Photograph taken at The National Museum, 2007. _

Closing the book, he decided he'd read it another day and left it on his table.

TBC

* * *

Please review! Suggestions are welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

On with the third chapter! Hope you guys enjoy it, please remember to leave a review!

**Ordo Tredecim : Chapter 2**

Roxas couldn't understand how Sora could be so laidback about his research paper.

Sure, they had a month to hand it in, but still, he should at least be starting on something.

Scowling, Roxas realized that Sora didn't have anything to worry about because his topic was so easy.

"What did that burger ever do to you, man?" said Hayner, shoving him lightly. The cafeteria was full of noise and laughter of students; further away Roxas could hear the sound of Sora's voice, chatting excitedly to Kairi and Riku.

"Nothing," he groused, taking a ferocious bite.

"What's wrong, Roxas?" asked Olette, frowning.

"Just worried about that History paper, that's all."

"Man, that again? Honestly, it's not even been three days - "

"Don't make me help you do your research project if you don't finish it on time," muttered Roxas angrily.

"Well, since you'd already be done by the time it rolls around it couldn't hurt to help your best pal - "

"Didn't you borrow a book from the library? Did it help?" asked Olette, cleanly interrupting the banter.

"I wonder how the author ever got _published_," spat Roxas. "It was full of shit like '_no one knew what they were fighting for but they did it anyway' _and he kept insulting those people who had come up with theories that involved magic."

"So?"

"History isn't supposed to be biased," said Roxas, finishing off his burger.

"Tried anything from the internet yet?" asked Pence.

"Full of magic theories," said the blond, sighing deeply. "How am I going to hand in a research paper about something that's not even loosely connected to History?"

"You don't believe in magic, then?"

"Do you?"

A flash. White light - whispered words - and then Roxas suddenly had an odd feeling creeping into his stomach.

"Who does?" he snorted, hiding his uneasiness.

"I don't know. Magicians certainly know their thing, though, don't they?"

"But those can be proven to be tricks."

"Cheer up, Rox," said Hayner, patting him on the shoulder. "Maybe Ms. Lockheart'll take pity on you and take into account your hard work and hard topic."

Sighing, he simply nodded and continued to worry and plan. Maybe he should talk to Ms. Lockheart about it...

**xoxoxoxox**

"So, who has started their research project yet?" asked Tifa brightly, scanning her class.

A few sniggers escaped and Tifa frowned.

"No one?"

"Roxas has," said Hayner, snickering. He dodged Roxas's annoyed punch, more laughter escaping from him.

"Well, what have you gotten so far, Roxas?"

"I borrowed a book from the library," mumbled Roxas, his ears turning red. "I read through it ... but it didn't help much."

"The Organization is tricky business," Tifa said sagely. "Why don't you see me after class? I can help point in the right direction if you're having trouble."

"I was actually planning to go to the National Museum on Saturday," said Roxas, ignoring Seifer's whispered words of 'nerd'.

"Yes, excellent idea. The statues are remarkable. Though, you should probably go on a weekday so there's less people around. You can also add in a few pictures to your project too, you know. Further proof that you've done your research."

After class, Roxas hung back to talk to Tifa, who quickly listed off things that he could do to find out further information. He was advised to talk to the curator of the National Museum about various magical theories (Tifa had given the go ahead on the theories, which puzzled Roxas a lot) and was apparently a dear friend of hers.

Tifa had also mentioned the Bible, but Roxas couldn't see how that had to do with anything. She had simply winked and told him to just look into it.

_"A good research paper isn't just full of facts, Roxas. It's the speculation one gets after researching - a theory, a realization - that there might be another point of view to this."_

Yet another flash - bright light - red, blood - _blood -_

"Roxas? Are you alright?"

Roxas opened his eyes and came face to face with his three family members, all looking at him with concern. It took him awhile to realize that he was at the dinner table with his family. He stared at his food like he had never seen it before.

"I'm - I'm not feeling well, mom," he said, and he wasn't lying. He had a bit of a headache and something was nagging at him -

"You'll get hungry though, why don't you eat something first?"

"No, I'm fine - I don't feel like eating... here, Sora, you can have my portion - " he said, getting up hastily, and quickly retreating to his room.

When his mother came in later on to say goodnight, she found him sprawled on the bed, sleeping soundly, with _A Study of The Organization _in his hands, flipped open to the spread out of the photograph of the twelve statues.

**xoxoxox**

Friday rolled around fast. Taking his teacher's advice, he decided to go to the museum after school that day to avoid the crowd of jabbering foreigners. He'd informed Sora quickly during class and gotten directions from Tifa. Peering at the hastily scribbled directions on the wrinkled piece of paper, Roxas got off the public bus and looked around, fanning himself lightly. Spotting the large sign of the National Museum, he crossed the street and headed directly for the building.

It was a large, intimidating building; and Roxas didn't like the sheer whiteness of the outer walls. It gave off the same kind of feeling hospitals did; dread.

"Welcome to the National Museum!"

Roxas nodded shyly, and approached the lady behind the desk.

"That'll be eight dollars for admission, and here's your ticket and pamphlet to go with. Enjoy!"

Sitting down on a nearby bench, Roxas scanned the small map in the pamphlet and looked for the section on the Organization. It occupied about only a quarter of the entire building's space, located right at the back of the museum.

Taking out a pen and a notebook from his bag, Roxas got up and headed through the various exhibitions to the Organization's section.

Upon reaching the section, he was surprised to find it separated by a heavy white curtain; like the ones on theatre and stages. Going in, he felt strangely small in the wide, circular room. The room was strangely wide - wide enough to fit three school buses back to front.

The statues were surrounding the room, leaving quite a bare look, so Roxas decided he'd work his way starting from the exhibits in the center of the room and then the statues.

Scribbling hastily on the notebook, his eyes strayed first to the apparent uniform of the Organization.

"Each member of the Organization dons the same uniform -" Roxas read, from the descriptions. He looked to the glass casing where a remake of the uniform hung; noting with distaste that it was all in black.

"Black cloak - leather, possibly -" Roxas muttered as he scribbled, "Hooded, as well - with black pants and the standard silver zipper - black gloves, black shoes, black _everything _-"

Sighing, Roxas took a picture and moved on.

There were several documents that were actually intact, written in what Roxas presumed was English. He frowned. Did the English from five hundred years ago and now differ a lot?

He peered closely at the documents framed in the glass casing before taking a picture, and read a short narrative about it.

_This document appears to be a brief report, written by an unknown man named Ansem. This is believed to be the thirteenth document in existence, as per the title Ansem Report XIII. The writings have faded remarkable over the years, but what little we have been able to tell is that it is an ongoing study of a group of humans called the "Nobodies."_

_The report talks about the relationship between the heart, body and soul. There are also mentions of darkness and light; which we have assumed to symbolize good and evil. The Nobodies are the ones that make up the in-between, and it is believed that the Organization was actually a dark cult who believed in neither good nor bad, black nor white ... but gray. The Organization, then, is concluded to be made up of these Nobodies, although whether Ansem is part of them is still to be determined. This Ansem was also reportedly conducting a dark experiment on humans, as can be seen in Ansem Reports II and IV. _

"Huh..." said Roxas, tapping his pen against his cheek in thought. "If they were _in-between_, then why are they referred to as a _dark cult_?"

Summarizing everything briefly in his notebook, he moved on to the Organization's statues.

Spotting the description plate, he moved over to it and jotted down his notes quickly.

_The statues of these members of the Organization are made from a very strong type of rock. Geologists say that it seems to be some sort of granite, but not ones that they have seen before, because the texture of granite is not normally as smooth as marble. The statues weigh approximately 1763 lbs each, depending on the height of each statue. No additional carvings have been done as it is simply not possible. Geologists are still trying to figure out the characteristics of these rock and come up with an explanation as to how it was originally carved in the first place. _

"Wow," said Roxas, after he was done reading. "Unbreakable rock? Uncarvable? Doesn't make sense..."

The statues weren't protected by the kind of red tape surrounding it, allowing visitors to go up to the statues to examine them for themselves. Roxas supposed this was not too bad of a thing, as the statues didn't have any risk of breaking or falling over as it was too heavy.

Roxas decided he'd start from the statue on the left of the entrance hall.

"Number XII, The Savage Nymph, the only known female member in the Organization," Roxas wrote down, frowning at the sadistic name given. He wondered how they had known about the name, or if it had just been made up to sound cooler.

Peering up at the statue, he felt an odd feeling creeping up on him as he stared into the carved smirk on her face and the darkened outline of the roman numeral XII on the right side of her neck.

"Weird hairstyle ... tattoo on the neck ... man, what else am I supposed to write about the statues..."

Sighing irritably, he moved on quickly, hoping to catch the earliest bus back home for a good meal with his family.

"Number X, The Gambler of Fate - Number VIII, The Flurry - "

"Look who's here all alone, guys," said a snide voice. Roxas whirled around from the statue he was examining, coming face to face with ... Seifer.

"What are you doing here?"

"Doing my research project, of course," said Seifer, smirking. "What a _coincidence_."

Roxas certainly didn't believe in coincidences.

"Yeah, well, the Organization isn't your topic, so why don't you go elsewhere?"

"You'll pay for what your best friend did the other day," spat Seifer.

"What did Hayner do? What the hell, you can't just take it out on me - "

Roxas was thrown back by the impact of Seifer's fist in his stomach, and he fell backwards, knocking the side of his head on the stone statue behind him. Groaning and wheezing, he tried to get up, but he felt nauseous.

"Shit, he's bleeding, Seifer!"

_I'm bleeding?_ thought Roxas dazedly, as he touched the side of his head. Sure enough, he was ... and it wasn't a shallow cut either. He felt consciousness slowly slipping away from him.

"Who cares? Let's get out of here - "

"Oh, I don't think so, boys - " said another different voice. Roxas didn't know who it was. As his lost consciousness, all he knew was that Seifer and his gang were screaming and there was a burst of blinding light and heat and the fire alarm was going off like crazy.

TBC

Phew, that was kinda long...

... I tried to make everything as professional as possible ... I tried researching for granite and marble and stuff and I came up with a lousy explanation, hope you guys don't mind...

I don't know if the Org. really do have tattoos on themselves, but I made them that way xD

I don't even know if it's possible to have a tattoo on the neck...

Review? :)


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